A couple of times a year, we hear a rumor that the Army is going to dump the Beretta M9 as a service pistol and go back to something in .45. Some people even claim we’re going to see the error of our heathen ways and welcome the venerable 1911 back into the fold with repentance and glee while the Holy Ghost of John Moses Browning forgives us for our folly.
Sorry, folks. It’s not going to happen.
The government bought nearly half a million M9 pistols in 2009. That’s not something they’d have done if the platform was on its way out. The sheer cost of replacing not just the pistol, but its whole support system of training, magazines, and other parts would be staggering. Then there’s the problem of using ammunition that’s completely incompatible with everything else NATO uses. Good luck getting Congress to greenlight that.
And what is this “Modular Handgun System” they’re gabbing about? Continued...